Metallica "Beyond Psyched" To Have Master Of Puppets Featured In Stranger Things Season 4 Finale: "How Crazy Cool Is That?"
Metallica is “beyond psyched” to have ‘Master of Puppets’ feature in Stranger Things.
The heavy metal band — made up of singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo — are big fans of Eddie Munson’s (Joseph Quinn) rendition of their 1986 track in the final episode of the Netflix sci-fi show's fourth season when he and Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) are deployed to lure and distract the demobats from the Vecna's lair to ensure Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalie Dyer) and Robin’s (Maya Hawke) safety.
After the last two episodes dropped, Metallica wrote on Instagram on Tuesday (July 5): “The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Master of Puppets’ in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it.”
They also gushed about the “final result” of their song being used in the '80s-set show and Quinn's guitar skills.
The band added: "We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away… it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!
"How crazy cool is that? It’s an incredible honour to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
Elsewhere, Trujillo — whose son Tye Trujillo recorded guitar tracks for the scene — posted about the moment on his personal Instagram, sharing his son’s contribution in the episode’s closing credits.
Thanks to Stranger Things, the 8-minute-and-38-second-long magnum opus from the band's 1986 album of the same name is currently No.1 on the iTunes rock chart.
Stranger Things' music supervisor Nora Felder told Variety that showrunners and creators Matt and Ross Duffer took the pivotal scene with the song in mind.
“It was another one of those ‘it has to be this song,’ moments," said Felder. "This part of the story was anticipated to be a pivotal and especially hair-raising scene in which Eddie heroically stood tall for the fight of his life. I believe the Duffer Brothers felt that playing ‘Master of Puppets’ throughout the extended scene was the clear choice.”
Felder had to run by Metallica themselves to get permission to use the song.
“I got in touch with Metallica’s management office and carefully went over the scene and what the intent would be," she said. "I knew the clearance would be taken seriously as we had used one of their songs (‘The Four Horseman’) in season 2 and had learned at that time that they were fans of the show."
Metallica's comments come after Kate Bush thanked the Duffer Brothers for propelling 'Running Up That Hill' to the top of Spotify's charts in the US and the UK after her 1985 single was featured prominently in the first episode of Season 4 as the angsty character Max (Sadie Sink) listens to her Walkman.
The British singer said on her blog: "By featuring 'Running Up That Hill' in such a positive light — as a talisman for Max (one of the main female characters) — the song has been brought into the emotional arena of her story. Fear, conflict and the power of love are all around her and her friends.
"I salute the Duffer Brothers for their courage — taking this new series into a much more adult and darker place. I want to thank them so much for bringing the song into so many people’s lives. (sic)" — BANG SHOWBIZ
Photo: TPG News/Click Photos
